A recent New York Times article outlined how some café owners, tired of laptop-banging customers who linger for free Wi-Fi, are pulling the plug on Internet access. That's a shame: while not an all-day camper, I occasionally crave some human company outside of my home office, and find it useful to work online while I enjoy a coffee and pastry. So I'm grateful that Mohr & McPherson, a swank home-furnishings purveyor, has added a downstairs café to its South End location. No surprise it's furnished with big tables and comfy armchairs (by Mohr & McPherson, natch). Better yet, it has free Wi-Fi and very pleasant breakfast and lunch fare, much of it from local purveyors.

At lunch, the focus shifts to fresh-tasting salads and sandwiches. The fine meal-size salads include one with grilled vegetables and fresh mozzarella ($7.29) and another of greens ($7.29) with walnuts, tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta in a raspberry vinaigrette. A smaller, premade pasta salad ($4.25) features crisp-poached vegetables. The hefty sandwiches include a pastrami panino ($7.60) pressed on robust ciabatta and topped with red onions, Swiss cheese, and grain mustard, and an overstuffed wrap of chicken salad ($7.90) with grapes and greens; all include a small side salad. Customers can also take away bags of house-blended lemon/herb tisane ($9.50/3 oz.) and products from wonderful Somerville chocolatier Taza, including its fruity, slightly grainy Mexican-style chocolate ($4.99/2.7-oz. disk). In its sunny, airy space, Mohr & McPherson Café allows South Enders to get some human interaction, a productivity-enhancing caffeine jolt, and a healthy nosh. Here's hoping they keep the Internet.

Review: Jaho Coffee & Tea Jaho is dedicated to slow living and slow brewing, but the haughty morning attitude of Boston commuters rushing for a cup may challenge this shop's efforts to make caffeine consumption relaxing.

On the Cheap: iYO Cafe Without any children at my disposal, I decided the best way to evaluate iYO Cafe, a self-serve yogurt and waffle shop, would be to rally some girlfriends and smoke a fat joint before heading over.

Ali's Roti Restaurant Watching folks eat at national fast-food outlets depresses me. Not only are they paying for advertising, but they're getting so little give-a-damn in their food. You sense that acutely after dining at a neighborhood place like Ali's Roti, a 22-seat counter-service Trinidadian restaurant at the western edge of the South End.

Cafe 57 and Grille I've always felt a little sorry for Brighton; it's a lovely residential neighborhood, but seems short on decent places for a quick bite.

Scup's in the Harbor Scouting out great cheap restaurants takes me down some strange byways, but I almost never make it to Boston's waterfront. Most places with water views tend to be overpriced or mediocre. Perhaps it's the high cost of picturesque real estate, or that owners count on the scenery to mask their shortcomings.

Photos: One Night in Boston 2010 STUFF Magazine presents photos taken in Boston's streets over nine hours on the night of August 22, 2010; here are a few of our favorites

Teranga Teranga is Boston's first serious Senegalese restaurant, but belongs more in the upscale-import category with the Helmand, Lala Rokh, and Orinoco than with typical immigrant restaurants. It's a pleasant and beautifully decorated bistro where diners mingle and have a good time.

Parish Cafe and Bar The edge of gentrification can present some close-minded folks with a barrier to finding good cheap eats.

Review: The Gallows I think this gastropub thing is keeper, if we can just find it a more appetizing name. And the Gallows, while its kitchen can execute, also needs a better name.

Review: Village Heart Bakery Café It's a straightforward principle but the Village Hearth Bakery Café has perfected it: keep things simple and the quality will shine through.

PORCHETTA ARROSTO AT CINQUECENTO | January 18, 2013 As a South Ender, I find it easy to admire the smooth professionalism and crowd-pleasing instincts of the Aquitaine Group, which operates six of its eight restaurants in the neighborhood, including Metropolis, Union, Aquitaine, and Gaslight.